Life sciences firm secures £1.2m in grant and equity funding

An Aberdeen-based life sciences firm has won £1.2 million worth of funding to progress its work to develop treatments for eye diseases.

Elasmogen has received a grant from the UK’S innovation agency, Innovate UK, along with equity investment from Chester-based Deep- bridge Capital and the Scottish Investment Bank (SIB), the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise.

The funding will be used to develop the company’s work aimed at tackling diseases such as uveitis and macular degeneration. The treatments avoid the need for direct injection into the eye and reduce side effects compared to existing treatments.

Aberdeenuniversityspinout Elasmogen has taken part in Scottish Enterprise’s highgrowth spinout programme which helps researchers to take their ideas and inventions from the lab to the global marketplace

Kerry Sharp, head of the SIB, said: “The company has made significant technical progress in a short space of time and its sight-saving auto-immune therapies have the potential to make a notable social, as well as commercial, impact.

“We look forward to working with Deepbridge Capital to further support and nurture the exciting opportunity presented by Elasmogen.”

The company has recently completed proof of concept trials and the funding will help it prepare its treatments for clinical trials. 0 “Significant progress” - SIB’S chief executive Kerry Sharp